How to find a real Gaza family to donate to directly

Every week, someone messages me a version of the same question. They have decided they do not want to give to a big organisation. They want their money to reach an actual family, quickly, with no layers in between. And then they freeze, because there are thousands of families asking for help and no obvious way to know who is real. They are afraid of two things at once: giving to a scam, and doing nothing while a real family goes without.

I understand that fear from both sides. I am on the receiving end of it. I am a father in Northern Gaza asking strangers for help, and I know that every fake campaign makes it harder for real ones to be believed. So I wrote the guide I wish I could hand to every person who hesitates. It will help you find a family, check that they are real, and send money that actually arrives. If that family turns out to be mine, I would be grateful. If it is someone else who passes every check in here, that is a good outcome too.

1. Where donors actually find families

Do not start from a fundraiser that landed in your social media replies. Start from a list that a community of volunteers has already vetted. Over the last two years, Palestinians and allies built a quiet infrastructure for exactly this. These are the places real donors browse, and being listed on them is something families work hard to earn.

Being on a vetted list is a strong first signal, but it is not the finish line. Lists get long, volunteers are overwhelmed, and no directory can watch every campaign forever. Treat a listing as a reason to look closer, not a reason to skip looking. The real work is the checking you do yourself, which is the next part.

2. How to tell a real family from a scam

Scams targeting Gaza donations are real, and they hurt twice. They steal from kind people, and they poison the trust that families like mine depend on. The good news is that fakes tend to fall apart under a few simple checks, because a real life leaves a long, consistent trail and a fabricated one does not. Here is what separates them.

The single most useful test costs nothing. Take a photo the campaign says is the family, drop it into Google Images or TinEye, and see if it appears anywhere else. A stolen photo shows up under other names. My photos do not appear anywhere else on the internet, because they are ours, taken in the apartment where we live.

3. The five checks, in order

If you remember nothing else from this page, remember these five steps. Run them on any family you are considering, including mine. A campaign that passes all five is about as safe as direct giving gets. A campaign that fails two or more is one to walk away from.

4. How the money actually reaches Gaza

This is the part most guides skip, and it is the part that makes people nervous. If banks in Gaza barely work, how does a donation abroad turn into food here? It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that the old routes fail and a few specific ones work.

GoFundMe and most platforms cannot pay money into a Gaza bank account. So funds are received by a trusted person, often a relative outside Gaza, and then moved in through the channels that still function. Western Union and bank wires do not work in practice. What works is direct PayPal to a verified family, which usually arrives in 24 to 48 hours, and cryptocurrency such as USDT on the TRC20 network, which can arrive the same day and is then exchanged for cash locally. If a campaign cannot explain how it receives money, that itself is a reason to pause.

5. What a fully verified family looks like

Rather than describe verification in the abstract, let me show you a family that passes every check on this page. It is mine. I am not putting us here to say give to us instead of someone else. I am putting us here so you know exactly what a complete, honest campaign looks like, so you can hold the next family you consider to the same standard.

If you run the five checks on us and you are satisfied, you can help directly below. If you take that same standard to another family and they pass, help them. Either way, you will be giving with your eyes open, which is all I want for anyone who is trying to do a kind thing in a hard time.

Common questions

How do I find a real Gaza family to donate to directly?

Start from a community-vetted directory rather than a random post. The main ones in 2026 are Operation Olive Branch, the gazavetters lists, and Gaza Funds, which gather GoFundMe and Chuffed campaigns that volunteers have already checked. Then verify the specific family: a named person with a government ID, original photos that pass a reverse image search, many months of dated updates, and a personal reply to a small test donation.

How do I know a Gaza fundraiser is not a scam?

Look for a named person and an ID, original photos, a long history of dated and specific updates, receipts for major spending, and open comments. Warning signs are anonymous organisers, stolen or stock photos, a story whose details keep changing, disabled comments, backdated posts, and pressure to give immediately. Our full method is in how to verify a Gaza fundraiser is real.

Why give to a family directly instead of a big NGO?

Large NGOs work at scale but spend a share of each gift on administration and distribute over weeks. Direct giving to a verified family has no overhead and arrives in about 48 hours with receipts. Both matter. Direct giving is the fastest way to help one specific family through one specific week. See NGO fees vs direct giving.

How does the money actually reach a family in Gaza?

Platforms cannot pay into a Gaza bank account, so funds are received by a trusted person and moved in through PayPal or through crypto like USDT TRC20, then exchanged for cash locally. PayPal takes 24 to 48 hours, crypto can be same day. Western Union and bank wires do not work in practice. Details: Western Union to Gaza.

Is donatetogaza.org a verified family?

Yes. It is the campaign of the Al-Shanti family in Northern Gaza, run by Mohammed Z. Al-Shanti. It publishes a government ID, original photos and video, dated receipts, a monthly price record, and a GoGetFunding campaign active since 2023. Everything is on the verification page.

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